Hyundai Motor's Q1 domestic output dips 29.4 pct

SEOUL, April 6 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co.'s domestic production of cars, trucks and buses plunged in the first three months of this year as the global economic crisis sapped demand, industry data showed Monday.

Production by Hyundai's local plants dived 29.4 percent to 320,914 units in the
January-March period from the same period a year earlier, the Korea Automobile
Manufacturers Association said in a statement.
Its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. also saw local production decline 19.1 percent to
206,630 units for the same period, according to the statement.
South Korea is home to five automakers with Hyundai and Kia, which form the
world's fifth-largest automaker, accounting for about 75 percent of the market.
First-quarter output by GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co., the local unit of
General Motors Corp., plummeted 48.7 percent to 115,646 units.
Financially troubled GM Daewoo has idled its production lines since December last
year as its U.S. parent is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy.
Last week, GM Daewoo Chief Executive Officer Michael Grimaldi said the company's
cash position became "critical" in the current quarter as sales collapsed.
GM Daewoo has been in talks with South Korea's state-run Korea Development Bank
to receive one trillion won (US$761.9 million) in financial assistance. So far,
the South Korean bank has shown little interest.
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